Movies and on stage mayhem: The UV Race

Marcus Rechsteiner appears very calm, sitting in a work uniform during a lunch break at his Warragul home, as he explains how sometimes audience members try to take his pants off while he's on stage. He's the lead singer of six piece punk band The UV Race who shun giving the audience what they want, despite their international fame.

Marcus is well known for his stripping on stage during The UV Race's live shows.

"Sometimes I have a week where I really want to release and go crazy and have fun. People come to see me go a bit crazy sometimes and I go the other way if they tell me to be silly. I've had people encourage that behaviour," Marcus says.

He stresses that the band doesn't want to be constrained to the punk music genre or even just to music.

In 2012 filming finished for a movie, Autonomy and Deliberation, starring the band which has been screened internationally.

"We can get a bit ambitious sometimes. It was such a strange thing to do, making a movie you've got to think of the visuals, your lines, we made a soundtrack to the movie as well and released that," Marcus says.

The UV Race have already started recording tracks for the soundtrack to the sequel which will be set in space.

"I think it's going to be a bit more electronic, spacey kind of music," Marcus says.

The band's beginnings

Marcus met another of the band's members Al Monfort, whilst in highschool.

Ever since the band has grown to include friends from nearby Melbourne, Dan Stewart, Georgia Rose, Alex Glazov and Moses Williams.

"I learnt how to get around Melbourne by playing a show, you know so I'd say 'oh I played here and that's that suburb, that suburb is the next one over so I just need to go here'," Marcus says.

He's the only band member still living in Warragul but the distance between band members is no hindrance to their ongoing success.

"It's a lot of fun being in the band so we try and make it happen. We don't usually practise very often just because it's pretty hard but it's not too bad," Marcus says.

National fame and the struggle for local recognition

The band has played at The Big Day out and was even asked by well known Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand to open for their Melbourne show.

"It's just a bit strange playing support for big bands because it's kind of hard to win over a crowd where they are just there to see [the band]. We had quite a few people dancing and having a good time," Marcus says.

He says in the past that the band has tried to find venues to play locally, but to no avail.

"I've got this saying that you could be like a really good football player in a town like this and a lot of people would know you but you could be a classical pianist or really good at violin, well renowned, but nobody would know who you are, it's just what towns like this focus on," Marcus says.

Fortunately the proximity of Warragul to Melbourne has meant the band has found it's home amongst the city music scene, he says.